Lupron for mystery bleeding - cleared right up!

[cknote]

Greetings! My name is Christina I’m the g-ma to a little piglet, Lilly! Lily is 4 and has had quite a rough life, developing a bladder stone requiring $$$$ surgery only to turn around 4 months later and have mystery bleeding. The bleeding was diagnosed as UTI/urine Crystals/sludge but rounds of antibiotics, rounds of metcam, rounds of gabapentin and nothing seemed to work, I’m talking November 2023-February 2024. By chance we were put in touch with an exotic vet that does Lupron injections.

We just had this injection 2/29 and the bleeding has stopped! The vocalizing while going potty has stopped. The incessant peeing has stopped. I'm so shocked, my hopes were low , but things are brighter …and my hopes are on the up and up.

Lily did not have typical signs, no hair loss, no bad behaviors, mild crusty nipples but definitely had small ovarian cysts felt and ID’d on ultrasound.

I just wanted to post this on here since I’ve seen some folks mention it in other threads that sometimes you don’t see the common symptoms and it’s worth digging deep. I hope there’s a Dr. Goodman every where - I know we’re only 5 days in, but she really saved this little piggy’s life !

 

[piggieminder]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
I am pleased to hear Lily is doing so well. It's such a relief when you find a good vet.
I hope she continues to do well.

 

[cknote]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
I am pleased to hear Lily is doing so well. It's such a relief when you find a good vet.
I hope she continues to do well.

Thank you so much !

 

[Wiebke]

Greetings! My name is Christina I’m the g-ma to a little piglet, Lilly! Lily is 4 and has had quite a rough life, developing a bladder stone requiring $$$$ surgery only to turn around 4 months later and have mystery bleeding. The bleeding was diagnosed as UTI/urine Crystals/sludge but rounds of antibiotics, rounds of metcam, rounds of gabapentin and nothing seemed to work, I’m talking November 2023-February 2024. By chance we were put in touch with an exotic vet that does Lupron injections.

We just had this injection 2/29 and the bleeding has stopped! The vocalizing while going potty has stopped. The incessant peeing has stopped. I'm so shocked, my hopes were low , but things are brighter …and my hopes are on the up and up.

Lily did not have typical signs, no hair loss, no bad behaviors, mild crusty nipples but definitely had small ovarian cysts felt and ID’d on ultrasound.

I just wanted to post this on here since I’ve seen some folks mention it in other threads that sometimes you don’t see the common symptoms and it’s worth digging deep. I hope there’s a Dr. Goodman every where - I know we’re only 5 days in, but she really saved this little piggy’s life !

Hi and welcome

As far as I understand your post is that the bleeding is nothing to do with the urinary tract but that it is caused by ovarian cysts in the reporductive tract since Lupron is basically a synthetic hormone that is used for some hormone based cancers and some other hormonal issues like early onset puberty etc. Is that correct?

The vast majority of ovarian cysts in sows go in fact unnoticed since they are 'silent' and only a very small number will ever cause the classic symptoms; they tend to usually come from small, growing hormonally active cysts.

Any bleeding from the anus in sows needs to be taken seriously and the reproductive tract needs to be checked as much as the urinary tract since it usually indicates that something more serious is going wrong in there - thankfully that is only a minority of sows.

It is unfortunately rather easy to discount the reproductive tract in sows when there are no clear symptoms and she has a history of bladder issues. I am sorry that you have had a bit of an odyssey. I hope that the hormone injections will help your girl and that she has had such a good response to it.

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

 

[cknote]

I’ve had tons of investigation done on this pig, she’s my $500/month vet appt with X-rays and ultrasound and visits . Everything came back clear except blood in urine, tiny sand/grit like crystals in the bladder, the ovarian cysts and vocalizing while going potty. The vet said the Lupron would stop growth/shrink the cysts and shut off her hormones. I feel at this point anything was worth a shot. But she’s 180 from where she was last week.

Idk if this is the answer I just wanted to share my experience

So

 

[cknote]

I’ve had tons of investigation done on this pig, she’s my $500/month vet appt with X-rays and ultrasound and visits . Everything came back clear except blood in urine, tiny sand/grit like crystals in the bladder, the ovarian cysts and vocalizing while going potty. The vet said the Lupron would stop growth/shrink the cysts and shut off her hormones. I feel at this point anything was worth a shot. But she’s 180 from where she was last week.

To add - this is my third vet for piggies.

Idk if this is the answer I just wanted to share my experience

 

[Wiebke]

I’ve had tons of investigation done on this pig, she’s my $500/month vet appt with X-rays and ultrasound and visits . Everything came back clear except blood in urine, tiny sand/grit like crystals in the bladder, the ovarian cysts and vocalizing while going potty. The vet said the Lupron would stop growth/shrink the cysts and shut off her hormones. I feel at this point anything was worth a shot. But she’s 180 from where she was last week.

Idk if this is the answer I just wanted to share my experience

So

Hi

I just wanted to clarify some points that were a bit confusing when reading your initial post. Thank you for sharing your positive experience. I am glad you have finally found a good vet. It can be rather difficult.

Hormone injections have helped with the treatment of ovarian cysts since they have come into use over the last decade and they have moved on from the initial treatments that could often come with some major side effects and were not always effective. They are not a total all-heal for all cases but they can pose an important and less invasive alternative to full spays or ovari-ectomy.

A number of forum members may share their own experiences with hormone treatment for ovarian cysts with you.